It's a Date!
by allegro scherzando
Summary: Nodame and Chiaki have been “together” for ages but since when have they actually been dating?


"It's a Date!"

By allegro scherzando

**DISCLAIMER:** All _Nodame Cantabile_ characters and themes are the rightful property of Ninomiya Tomoko.

**SUMMARY:** Nodame and Chiaki have been "together" for ages but since when have they actually been dating?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Senpai!" Nodame called, running toward Chiaki along the middle aisle of the Opéra Garnier.

It was 11 o'clock in the morning on an ordinary Wednesday. An ordinary Wednesday meant that Nodame had no classes at the Conservatoire and Chiaki had whole-day rehearsals with the Roux-Marlet Orchestra of which he was the permanent conductor. However, on that particular Wednesday, Chiaki let out the orchestra early.

As the orchestra members packed up their things and were slowly trooping out of the massive red- and gold-colored space that was the main theater of the famed Opéra Garnier, Chiaki who was standing at the conductor's podium turned around to behold something that looked like a glowing white piece of cloth running toward his direction.

When the white something stopped moving and stood at the bottom step leading to the stage, panting for breath, Chiaki realized that it was his girlfriend. Well, at least that's what she called herself (and more besides).

"Senpai!" she said again. "What do you think?" she added in a shy voice, holding her skirt and twirling around once to show Chiaki the dress she was wearing.

Nodame was in a white ensemble made of cotton. It was quite thin and if one were to look at it closely, one would be able to see her feminine curves peeking beneath the soft fabric. The whiteness of the outfit seemed to be unlike any other sort of white Chiaki had ever seen and it made Nodame's fair skin radiate a bright glow. In fact, Nodame seemed to be entirely _white_, except for her reddish-brown hair and the small pink heart-shaped diamond pendant hanging on a chain around her neck.

Chiaki seemed to be lost for words. He immediately averted his eyes and busied himself with sorting the piles of scores on his music stand.

"You look . . . fine," he muttered, not even glancing once at the angelic-looking girl staring up at him.

Nodame pouted and put her hands on her waist.

"You know, Nodame worked very hard to please you with this outfit," she said.

"There was really no need to put so much effort into it," Chiaki remarked in an indifferent tone, venturing one quick glance at her before returning to his scores again. "It's just lunch with Vieira-sensei."

"But it's my first time meeting him!" Nodame said. "You don't want your wife looking like a weirdo in front of your beloved teacher, do you?"

"You _are_ a weirdo," replied Chiaki, picking up his bag and scores and descending the steps. With a small smile, he reached over to her and touched her hair for a split-second before saying, "Let's go."

Chiaki briskly walked up the aisle and out the large oak doors, followed by Nodame who was running to keep up with him. As she ran, a hint of a smile slowly crept onto her pouting lips.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where's the restaurant?" asked Nodame as she got into the taxi.

"Neuilly," answered Chiaki, though Nodame wasn't entirely sure whether he answered her question or he was telling the driver where to go.

"Hmm. . . Senpai, we could have just gone to that nice Italian place across the road from the Opéra," continued Nodame as the taxi started to go down the long avenue.

"Don't you want to eat something different this time?" Chiaki reasoned.

"Well, when it comes to food, I'm not that picky," mumbled his companion softly.

"Besides, it's a seafood restaurant. I know you like seafood."

"Eh. . . Sounds nice," said Nodame, smiling at him. "Next time when we're by ourselves let's go on a date there."

"Date?" asked Chiaki who seemed slightly irritated. "Since when did we date?"

"Since a long time ago!" Nodame replied, her mouth protruding. After a long pause, she continued, "Actually we've always gone out to eat at nice restaurants but I didn't really think of them as dates."

"That's because those weren't dates," said Chiaki in a definitive tone. "Don't get any ideas in your head."

Nodame made a soft noise that sounded close to a whimper before turning her head away from Chiaki. She spent the rest of the trip staring out the window, until the taxi had passed the Place de la Concorde, where Nodame spotted a café where they frequently had lunch together.

Returning her gaze on Chiaki, she asked, "So all those times we had lunch or dinner at those fancy restaurants weren't dates?"

"No, they weren't."

"Then what were they?"

"They were. . ." began Chiaki. "They were just times when we decided to eat out because I wasn't able to cook anything."

"But don't loving couples go out on dates?" Nodame said, shaking the sleeve of Chiaki's coat.

"Nodame, be quiet," Chiaki said, heaving an annoyed sigh.

Drooping her head, Nodame muttered, "_Gyabo_. . ."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What a pretty little restaurant!" exclaimed Nodame, clinging onto Chiaki's arm as they entered the small café Giry's. It was a well-kept secret in the neighborhood of Neuilly, a stylish suburb of Paris. The restaurant was known as the best place to eat a French delicacy called _bouillabaisse_, a fish stew with many ingredients.

"I knew you would like this place," explained Chiaki, leading her to the back garden of the restaurant, where a single round table was situated right next to a grey bird fountain. A tiny pot of roses served as the centerpiece of the table, around which were three white chairs. On one of the chairs, an elderly gentleman was sitting in complete silence.

Upon seeing the two of them, the man stood up and flashed them both a smile. He extended his hand toward Chiaki but quickly changed his mind and met him with a warm embrace.

"How are you, my dear boy?" the old man asked.

"Very well," replied Chiaki with a broad smile. "And you, Maestro?"

"Wonderful! Thank you," said Vieira. Noticing the presence of Chiaki's companion, he added, "And who is this lovely young lady?"

Nodame positively jumped and failed to hide the fact that she was trying to straighten the creases on her skirt.

"This. . . Er – This is. . ." stammered Chiaki, suddenly showing signs of uneasiness.

Vieira stared at him with polite curiosity.

"This is. . . my girlfriend," Chiaki mumbled, refusing to meet his teacher's eyes.

Both Nodame and Vieira gasped. However, it was rather difficult to tell who was more surprised by Chiaki's statement. The latter seemed incredibly amused, even almost ecstatic; the former looked like she was about to explode with sheer joy. Chiaki wasn't surprised by Nodame's reaction, but was very perplexed by his teacher's.

Vieira held out his hand to Nodame, which she took. The maestro noticed a strange feverish sort of happiness in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Chiaki had to drag you into this," Vieira said. "You must be a very busy young woman. Tell me, what do you do?"

"Eh?" asked Nodame in a puzzled tone.

"What is your profession, my dear?" Vieira said understandingly. He seemed even more amused with this new acquaintance.

"Ah!" said Nodame. "I'm only a student. Actually, it's my final year at the Conservatoire."

"A fellow musician!" exclaimed the maestro. "How delightful for both of you. And your instrument?"

"Piano," replied Nodame. Beginning to develop a fondness for the Italian conductor, she continued in a faster and more excited voice, "I'm studying very hard every day so I can catch up with Chiaki-senpai so that one day I'll definitely be able to perform on the same stage with him and we'll perform with different orchestras all over the world and we'll be known as the Golden Pair."

Vieira smiled and threw Chiaki a knowing glance.

Looking both exceedingly embarrassed and rather proud of her at the same time, Chiaki took Nodame by the arm and led her to her seat.

As the three of them seated themselves, Vieira asked, "Do you like your food?"

"Oh, definitely!" Nodame answered.

"I'm sorry, my dear, what's your name?"

"Nodame."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After heartily finishing an entire bowl of _bouillabaisse_, Nodame excused herself to roam around the restaurant's garden.

As she walked away from the two men, Vieira said, "I had no idea you have a girlfriend, Shinichi."

Chiaki seemed bewildered himself.

"Where did you meet her?" asked his teacher.

"When I was still a student in Japan, we had a few classes together," explained Chiaki. "Then we realized we were neighbors."

Vieira motioned for him to say more.

"She had this unpredictably sloppy style of playing. It was an amazing sound but it was hard to harmonize with. She wasn't like the others. Not that she's changed much now."

"Because of that, you were taken to her."

"What do you mean, Maestro?"

"You wanted to harmonize with her so badly," said Vieira knowingly. "You were looking for a challenge. Isn't that what you see in her?"

"She's difficult to live with," remarked Chiaki simply, amazed at Vieira's discernment. After a while, he said, "You seem to like her."

"Oh, very much!" replied Vieira in a jolly voice. "From the moment I saw her. Somehow I see a bit of myself in her. She _is_ different, to be sure."

"What do you really want to say?" asked Chiaki who wasn't fond of euphemisms.

"She's a little crazy, isn't she?"

"_A little_," said Chiaki. Remembering his conversation with Nodame in the taxi earlier that day, he asked his maestro, "What's a date?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"A date. What is it?"

"You don't know what a date is?" asked Vieira, making another amused smile. "But you're in a relationship. Shouldn't you know that?"

Chiaki averted his eyes as an almost invisible shade of pink appeared on his cheeks.

"I have no idea in the modern sense," his teacher admitted. "A date can be any activity, can't it?"

"Eating out," said Chiaki. "Is that a date?"

"Ah, that's probably the most obvious sort of date, isn't it?" Vieira said in an almost offhanded manner. "Shinichi, when did you two start going out together?"

Taken aback by the question, Chiaki didn't know what to say.

After a moment's thought (if he really was able to think), he answered, "We've always been together. I don't remember when an actual relationship began. There's no date, no specific time. For a long time, I didn't know exactly where we were."

Vieira could tell that there was something that wasn't very honest about Chiaki's last sentence. In fact, his student seemed to be very uncomfortable at the moment.

"What's bothering you?" asked the maestro.

"What?" said Chiaki absentmindedly as he stared into his bowl of fish stew. "No, I'm fine."

Vieira sighed and stared after Nodame, who was a long distance away from their table and completely out of earshot. She was leaning over a rosebush and examining the pink-colored flowers all over it which were just beginning to bloom. Her dress seemed to emanate an even brighter glow as she stood next to the red, pink, and orange hues on the bushes. Her lips were jutting out as though she were extremely curious about the flowers. It made her look like a very small child who was seeing these things for the very first time.

_What a fascinating creature you are_, he thought to himself. _You aren't at all what I expected Shinichi to end up with._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Senpai, where are we going now?" asked Nodame.

She and Chiaki had just gotten out of the restaurant and were strolling along the wide road which was visibly empty of any cars. Vieira had excused himself from their lunch, saying that he had some business to attend to in London that evening and he was going to catch a train at 3 o'clock.

Chiaki glanced at his wristwatch. It was already 3:06.

"I don't know," he answered. "Where do you want to go?"

"Eh?" said Nodame in surprise. "Senpai wants Nodame to decide?"

After a very long pause, Chiaki said, "You said we've always gone on dates before, didn't you?"

Nodame stared at him with her head tilted to one side, a confused look on her face. When she finally understood what Chiaki meant, she answered in an unsure tone, "But Senpai said we're not dating." There was a more than evident hint of disappointment in her voice.

"_Where do you want to go?_" Chiaki repeated, ignoring what she said.

"Really? You want to know?" asked Nodame.

"Yes," replied the other in a half-exasperated voice.

Nodame turned her head away and continued walking in silence for a few minutes. As they were about to reach the intersection on the road, she said softly, "Please take me to that place with a lot of paintings."

Chiaki looked at her in wonder and asked, "The Louvre?"

"No, no, the place with the narrow streets and all those paintings for sale on the sidewalk."

"Oh, that place," said Chiaki, realizing what she meant. "Montmartre."

"Yes, that's it!" said Nodame more happily. "Please take me there."

"Do you really want to go there? It's full of tourists and the streets are always crowded. There isn't much to see."

"But it's such a colorful place!" said Nodame pleadingly. After a while, she added, "Senpai said he would take me to _anywhere_ I wanted."

Sighing, Chiaki hailed a taxi.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The moment she stepped out of the taxi, Nodame immediately ran to the nearest stall which sold paintings. With an excited gleam in her eyes, she stared at each of the paintings carefully. Most of them depicted women and children walking along the cobblestone streets of the neighborhood of Montmartre. They were obviously people who lived there because they had no cameras and didn't look at all like tourists. Nodame was dazzled by each of the images in front of her.

"Are you interested in buying anything, Miss?" asked the vendor who was a tall elderly man with long wavy grey hair and faded clothes.

"No," Chiaki cut in at once just as Nodame was about to say something. "We're just looking around."

"You're not tourists, are you?" asked the vendor kindly.

"Oh, no, we live here," replied Nodame as she picked up one of the smaller canvases to look at it more closely. "I'm a student at the Conservatoire."

"How magnificent!" said the vendor. "And your boyfriend?"

"He's the conductor of a professional orchestra. He's becoming pretty famous, actually. Someday I'll perform on the same stage with him."

"I'll be sure to watch you," said the vendor reassuringly.

"Thank you, sir!" said Nodame who was starting to develop a liking for the vendor. "My name's – "

Chiaki instantly grabbed Nodame's arm and dragged her away from the stall. As they moved on to another street, he hissed in her ear, "_Don't go saying your name to just anybody!_"

"Ah, but he seemed to like music," reasoned Nodame, scratching her head.

"You stupid. . ." Chiaki began, but decided not to finish his sentence.

"Eh, what's that?" asked Nodame as she heard the faint sound of an accordion coming from somewhere close. She took Chiaki by the hand and ran forward to where the sound issued.

When they turned a street corner, they saw a small crowd gathered around a man sitting on the curb. The man was playing a slow but happy song on his accordion. The sound was neither loud nor soft and his fingers touched the keys gracefully.

"It's beautiful!" gasped Nodame as she listened to the tune. "What's that song, Senpai?"

"'_La Vie en Rose_' or 'Life in Pink,'" replied Chiaki. "It was sung by Edith Piaf, a _chanteuse_ who lived in this part of the city. She suffered from poverty at a very young age and was forced to make a living singing in bars to support her family. Eventually she became famous and toured all over Europe and the US. That is one of her most famous songs written just after the end of World War I. The melodramatic melody and lyrics reflect how Parisians viewed life at the time. Piaf sang about how her lover helped her see life in a different and happier color after experiencing such sadness."

As they slowly walked away when the man finished his song, Nodame pulled at Chiaki's sleeve and said, "Sing it to me, Senpai."

Though a bit hesitant, Chiaki took a deep breath and began singing the first few verses.

"_Hold me close and hold me fast_

_The magic spell you cast_

_This is _la vie en rose

_When you kiss me heaven sighs_

_And though I close my eyes_

_I see_ la vie en rose

_When you press me to your heart_

_I'm in a world apart_

_A world where roses bloom_

_And when you speak_

_Angels sing from above_

_Everyday words turn into love songs_

_Give your heart and soul to me_

_And life will always be_

La vie en rose_."_

He turned to Nodame and saw tears rolling down her cheeks. He quickly pulled out his handkerchief and wiped at her tears.

"Please stop crying," he whispered, looking around with an embarrassed expression on his face. "People are staring at you."

"It was so beautiful!" Nodame said as the tears continued to flow from her eyes. She seized the handkerchief from Chiaki's hand and blew her nose into it.

Though he seemed shocked, Chiaki couldn't suppress a smile.

As they continued walking past the sidewalk cafés and the painting stalls, Nodame asked, "Senpai, did you mean every word you sang?"

"Huh?"

Turning her head away, Nodame muttered, "It seemed like it."

Chiaki still didn't answer.

"So when a person's in love, he feels like Mozart?" Nodame continued.

"What?" asked Chiaki, staring at her with a baffled look.

"Because everything seems to be pink."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you have fun?" Chiaki asked.

"Yes, very much!" replied Nodame. She quickly grabbed Chiaki's hand as they made their way out of the winding streets of Montmartre. Surprisingly enough, Chiaki did not shake off her hand in annoyance. Nodame gasped and immediately stopped walking.

"What?" asked Chiaki, staring at her.

Nodame shook her head and took his hand again as they continued walking past the unending crowd of tourists and Parisians alike.

_Nodame might as well take advantage of Senpai while he's like this_, she thought to herself, inwardly smirking.

"Where do we go next?" Chiaki ventured to ask.

"What about the Eiffel Tower?" suggested Nodame. The enthusiastic gleam in her eyes was beginning to show itself again.

"Are you here on vacation?" Chiaki said in a tired, sarcastic voice. "You see the Tower everyday."

As though she were determined to ignore Chiaki's protest, Nodame said, "We see it everyday but we've never gone to the top."

"Yes, we have. When we first got here, we climbed to the very top."

"Then let's go there again!" Nodame said, staring intently at Chiaki. "Let's enjoy the view before we have dinner at home."

"_Dammit_," Chiaki muttered.

"What's wrong, Senpai?"

"I didn't go to the market today," Chiaki answered softly. "We don't have any food at home."

Nodame merely looked up at his face.

"Right then," Chiaki decided, "we'll eat out." He freezed the moment he said the words, which made Nodame wonder even more.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What a beautiful view! Senpai, look, it's our apartment!"

"How can you tell? Everything looks the same from up here."

Nodame smiled broadly at Chiaki as they stood side-by-side on the topmost part of the Eiffel Tower. It was nearing sunset and the sky was just starting to turn into a shade which was a mixture of orange and violet.

Chiaki smiled back at her and as she turned her head away to stare down at the city again, he continued looking at her. He studied her face, how its expressions changed quickly from looking completely content and satisfied to looking awestruck, how ever so often her cheeks would turn pink, how her lips moved in the strangest ways. He watched her point at certain things below them and heard her exclaim "_Gyabo!_" or "_Mukya!_" and all the other expressions she invented. He was too busy enjoying the view of the overenthusiastic girl right next to him that he didn't notice she was already staring eye-to-eye with him.

"Senpai?" she asked, her lips forming her remarkably prominent pout.

In an instant, Chiaki grabbed her shoulders and without another moment's thought planted his lips onto hers. He felt Nodame fling her arms around his neck but apart from that he was lost. Chiaki was caught in a sea of his emotions and he felt that he would have a hard time reaching the surface for air. But in a moment he realized that he had already let go.

Nodame stared at him, her lips still pouting and her cheeks slowly but surely developing a deep red blush.

Expecting her to squeal with delight and beg for more, Chiaki was surprised when Nodame suddenly averted her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm hungry," she mumbled feebly, clutching at her stomach.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How about this place?" Chiaki suggested as they stopped in front of a fancy Italian bistro just a short distance away from the Eiffel Tower. The sky was already very dark and the stars were shining visibly during that clear night.

Nodame glanced at the menu placard placed on an easel outside the restaurant and made a passive sigh.

"Didn't you say you wanted Italian food earlier?" asked Chiaki.

"I don't want to eat something very heavy tonight," explained Nodame. "Our lunch was already a mouthful."

Chiaki looked astounded.

"That's the first time I heard that from you," he said.

"There!" Nodame said suddenly, pointing at something a few feet away. "A _crêpes_ stall!"

She ran over to the stall excitedly. Chiaki followed her slowly, staring after her with a half-amused look on his face.

"Senpai, what do you want?" Nodame asked, motioning for Chiaki to look up at the menu placed above the stall.

After a minute, Chiaki replied, "The regular-sized strawberry _crêpe_ and a cappuccino."

Nodame turned to the vendor and said, "One regular-sized strawberry _crêpe_, a cappuccino, and one jumbo-sized double chocolate _crêpe_. Please put two scoops of vanilla ice cream on top of the chocolate one. Oh, and I'll also order the largest size of orange juice! I want that jumbo platter of mocha cream _éclairs_ too. It's all for takeout so please put them in a paper bag."

Chiaki's eyes widened.

"_I thought you said you didn't want anything heavy?!_" he demanded. He was on the verge of hitting her, but decided not to upon seeing her smile at him.

"130 Euros please," said the vendor.

Nodame turned to Chiaki with an unassuming expression.

"You'll pay, of course," she said matter-of-factly.

"You. . ." began Chiaki, clenching his fist. With one practiced swing of his arm, he hit her squarely in the face.

"_GYABO~!!_"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they were walking along the embankment of the River Seine, eating their "light" dinner, Chiaki turned to face Nodame. He immediately noticed a bit of chocolate filling on her cheek and wiped it off with his handkerchief (the same one he had used to wipe her tears and also the very same one she had blown her nose into).

"How did you like our date?" he asked as he placed his handkerchief back in his pocket.

"Huh?" asked a puzzled Nodame. "What date?"

"_This_ date," Chiaki replied simply.

"Is this a date?"

Chiaki hesitated before saying, "Yes."

"It was. . . fine," Nodame answered cooly.

Chiaki appeared stunned at her answer and turned his head away to hide the disappointment on his face.

"I'm just kidding, it was perfect," said Nodame happily, kissing him on the cheek. When she pulled her lips away, there was a huge messy spot of chocolate on Chiaki's face. Nodame laughed loudly.

"You look like an idiot!" she giggled, taking one of the paper napkins she got at the stall and wiping Chiaki's face clean.

"Who's the idiot here?" Chiaki muttered irritably, though there was something of a grin on his face.

For a few moments, the two of them strolled in silence, basking in the prettiness of the Parisian night air.

"Was there something you didn't like, Nodame?" Chiaki suddenly asked uneasily.

"What? No, why do you think that?"

"I thought. . . maybe. . . you didn't like – "

"Ah!" exclaimed Nodame. "There _was_ something I didn't really like in particular. But it was just _that_ one thing. . . ."

Chiaki stared into her face, waiting for her answer.

She stared back at him with a mock peevish expression and replied, "You should have reserved the kiss until the very end."

"With pleasure," Chiaki said immediately, taking her into his arms and locking his lips with hers. Though he would never admit it, he swore he could taste a bit of vanilla and chocolate during that kiss.

_Fin_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** My first fic! I hope it was all right and that nobody was out of character! Of course, comments (whether positive or negative) are very much appreciated.

This was given to me as a writing _étude_ by a friend because I have never been able to finish any of my fics (since I always plan on writing long ones) and she wanted me to try my hand at a oneshot.

I also got some ideas from other writers, particularly Liliumscribe. I've never posted any reviews for your works, but allow me to say that you inspire me a lot!

By the way, "_La Vie en Rose_" was originally sung in French. But I thought the English was better to use so everybody would understand. And I don't know the French lyrics anyway. I hope La Môme won't mind. ;-) Some people say that the title can be translated as "Life Seen through Pink Stained-Glass Windows" but literally it's "Life in Pink."

Sorry for the barrage of place names. I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. By the way, Giry's is a fictional seafood restaurant I created. I named it after Giry Vincent, the actor who plays Jean Donnadieu in the live-action drama. Please correct me if I'm wrong about place descriptions (I've never actually been to France).

As to the price of the _crêpes_, I do believe 130 Euros is much too expensive. Just pretend they're the high-quality kind. Haha.

That last sentence seemed rather disgusting too, but I just had to put that in.

There I go again, I'm talking too much. What a long author's note!

Ah, before I end this note (which will turn into an "afterword" if I say anything further), may I ask, _did you notice something strange in this fic_? Tell me if you do! I deliberately put in something very odd here. First Prize to whoever gets it right!


End file.
